Guard Your Heart!
May 9, 2016 • By Ed Wrather
Keep your heart (guard your heart – NIV) with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. – Proverbs 4:23 NKJV.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:45 NKJV.
It happened in Foxbank Plantation, South Carolina, that’s where an alligator was seen attempting to ring the doorbell of a home. The home owner was not at home, but a neighbor’s video of the gator has gone viral. (05.04.16 Mailonline) Then there is the bear in 2012 in Naples, Florida that rang the doorbell of a home there; but there are many reports and videos of other doorbell ringing bears. There is also a video of a lion walking up to a car and opening the car door. So, if a lion can do that, it could also conceivably ring a doorbell.
If you knew an alligator was ringing your doorbell or knocking at your door, would you let it in? Of course you wouldn’t! If you knew a bear was ringing your doorbell or knocking at your door, would you let it in? Of course you wouldn’t! If you knew a lion was ringing your doorbell or knocking at your door, would you let it in? Of course you wouldn’t! Why would you not let those animals into your home? Because you know they are dangerous, those animals could hurt you or even kill you. At the very least those animals could wreak havoc upon the interior of your home, destroying much that you would think of as being valuable.
Your home is valuable, but there is something that is even more valuable, and that is your heart. The world, the flesh, and the devil are continually ringing the doorbell of your heart trying to find a way in. Envy, greed, lust, pride, and more are ringing the doorbell of your heart. Don’t let them in! Guard your heart! 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says this: “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 John 4:1 gives us additional instruction saying: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Just because some evil thing rings your doorbell it doesn’t mean that you have to let it in. Guard your heart!